We had to get security to extract us: When Ross Taylor’s coffee outing with Rahul Dravid in India went wrong

From facing racism in the team’s dressing room to getting slapped by the Rajasthan Royals team owner, former New Zealand batter Ross Taylor has made some stunning revelations in his autobiography – ‘Ross Taylor: Black & White’. Taylor has also recalled several interesting anecdotes in his book, including one about his coffee outing with India legend Rahul Dravid which went wrong.

Taylor shared the dressing room with Dravid in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when they played together for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) for the first three seasons. The former Kiwi batter became Dravid’s teammate once again when he was roped in by Rajasthan Royals in 2011.

While cricketers mostly live a normal life in New Zealand, the same can’t be said about India where the players are treated as demigods and enjoy massive popularity in every nook and corner of the country. Taylor got his first taste of what it is like to be an Indian cricketer when he and former South Africa spinner Johan Botha took Rahul Dravid out for a coffee and ended up getting stuck in a mall in Jaipur, Rajasthan.

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Taylor was part of the Rajasthan Royals squad along with Dravid and Botha at the time. In his book, the former New Zealand batter revealed how Botha and he asked Dravid to go out with them for a coffee when the team was in Jaipur. They ended up going to a mall which was packed within two minutes as fans queued up to get a glimpse of the Indian legend. The mall security had to be called to escort the trio out.

“The South African off-spinner Johan Botha and I were sitting next to Rahul Dravid at breakfast in Jaipur. We asked him if he wanted to go for a coffee; he didn’t really, but we twisted his arm. We got a cab to a five-storeyed mall. We hadn’t taken any security with us, which was naive. Within two minutes the mall was packed – there were at least 4,000 people – and we had to get mall security to extract us,” Taylor wrote in his book.

The former New Zealand batter further recalled how he and Botha apologised to Dravid, who was unfazed by the incident and remained the gentleman that he is. Dravid told the duo they might have not faced such a crowd had they been in a bigger city like Mumbai where people are used to seeing celebrities regularly.

“I’m sure Rahul saw it coming, but he was too polite to turn us down. “Botes” and I were profusely apologetic on the way back to the hotel. Rahul played it down with his usual class, saying we probably would’ve been okay in a bigger city like Mumbai but, in the smaller cities, they didn’t see big-name cricketers that often. Jaipur’s population is around four million. After that, coffee with Dravid was always in the hotel,” Taylor wrote.

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One of the best batters to have played for New Zealand, Taylor played seven seasons in the IPL. He amassed 1017 runs in 55 matches at a strike rate of over 123 and an average of 25.43. He made his last appearance in IPL in 2014 as the Kiwi great failed to land a contract thereafter.